We are so excited to share some photos from the surprise birthday lunch we had for Cassandra earlier this month! Our Cassandra’s Kitchen team hosted a fun, casual outdoor lunch to celebrate Cassandra’s 40th birthday. We decided on the Grill Party Menu from Ina Garten’s Parties! Cookbook and we recruited Cassandra’s mom Barbara to help us put it all together. Our friend George Waldron brought his A-game and helped us create the most amazingly gorgeous cake ever.
We’re going through some diet trial and error here at Cassandra’s Kitchen. I was recently diagnosed with Lyme Disease and it was recommended that I eat gluten free to combat inflammation (it's working!!). For the time being I'm eating gluten free and Cindy has been gluten free for years, so it seemed appropriate to share Ina Garten’s incredible Decadent (Gluten Free!) Chocolate Cake (it’s so good, you’ll say ‘gluten who?’).
In 2017 I made a little deal with myself, I wanted to make all of my family’s birthday cakes (thanks, Ina Garten and Barefoot Contessa for the inspiration). I enjoy baking with my kids and thought that letting them help with their own cakes would create some great memories and foster their love for cooking and baking. The birthday cakes weren’t perfect works of art, but they were prepared with love - so they tasted even better!
Sneaking in one more post with Trent from @StoreBoughtIsFine before the end of the year. He's got a lot of friends and a lot of great gift ideas. After reading this blog, you'll wish you were on his 'nice' list. Happy Holidays and Happy Gifting..
The famous Ina Garten Flag Cake. I would bet that if you’ve lived in America for any amount of time or even happened to visit in the summer months, you’ve seen some version of the Flag Cake. This time of year, the fruity stars and stripes are all over checkout aisle magazine covers and cooking shows. It’s so festive and fun - even Taylor Swift and her famous friends are fans of Ina’s Flag Cake.
One of my favorite traditions in our house is the Birthday Meal. The birthday gal (or guy) gets to pick what they want to eat for dinner on their birthday. And, of course, they get the cake of their choice. For the past few years, my daughters have been really into Trifle cake. Thankfully, this year my daughter Lexi wanted a change so, together, we invented Melted Chocolate Ice Cream Cake. I promise, it’s better than the name suggests and you’ve probably had it before – just never gave it a name!
